Welcome to Rupert Gerritsen's Website

LATEST NEWS

I gave a lecture, "The Duyken and the First Contact Memorial - Historical Connections, Cultural Connections" at National Library on evening of Friday 21 June as part of Canberra launch of The Duyfken: Unveiling of the First Contact Memorial, and also in Brisbane on evening of Monday 24 June for the launch there.
Essay I wrote for the publication is also available under the Works button.

Paper I published in Placenames Australia, June 2013, 'A Dangerous question: Fingal Head and Point Danger' can now be found under Works as well.

A paper will be coming out soon on a
previously unrecognised voyage to Australia by a Dutch ship, the Immenhorn, in 1659.

Beyond the Frontier: Explorations in
Ethnohistory is still available on Kindle and Smashwords multi e-reader platform (i-Pad, Android,
Kobo, Sony etc.).

Rupert Gerritsen has pursued his career as a researcher for 24 years, as well as having worked in the community services sector for over 35 years. His
research covers a diverse range of topics, including early Australian history, archaeology, maritime archaeology, historical linguistics, historical
ethnography, historical cartography, ethnogeography, prehistory, as well as social issues. Much of this research has been published in Australia and
internationally. Rupert is active in promoting awareness of early Australian history as well, being the co-founder in 2002 of Australia on the Map: 1606 -
2006, becoming the Secretary of that organisation. He is now the Chair of its successor organisation, the Australia on the Map Division of the Australasian
Hydrographic Society.

This website offers the opportunity to engage Rupert as a consultant in the areas of History, Historical Heritage and Community
Services. It also allows access to his research and publications, and provides a better understanding of his activities in promoting greater awareness of
early Australian history, with links to relevant organisations. If you wish to know more about these areas, engage or contact Rupert, or find out more about
his involvements, click on the appropriate buttons. There are a diverse range of research resources that can be downloaded, addressing some of Rupert's
ground-breaking work in the history and prehistory of Australia, and other parts of the world, including:

What happened to the
hundreds of Dutch mariners marooned on Australia’s west coast in the 17th and early 18th centuries?

Where were Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom de
Bye, Australia’s first European settlers, marooned in 1629?

Were Indigenous Australians all nomadic hunter-gatherers, or did some live in
large permanent settlements?

Did some Indigenous Australians engage in food production, including agriculture?

Was there an Australian
Early Neolithic at the time of British colonisation?

Why did agriculture develop in different parts of the world at different times?

What
is the world’s oldest ceremonial object?

When did the megafauna become extinct in Australia and how did that happen?

How did the
First Australians reach Australia 49,000 years ago?

Rupert’s research philosophy is summed up by the quote:

“If we know how and where to listen, their ghosts may be heard as loudly and as clearly as any other spectre that haunts
Australia’s history.”

Unless specifically indicated otherwise, the information on this site is freely available for private research use only and if used as such, should be appropriately acknowledged. To assist in this process, each item has a citation attached at the bottom for referencing purposes.

Please Note: No express or implied permission is given for commercial use of the information contained within this site.